The invention relates generally to a support device used when nursing or bottle-feeding of infants. More specifically, the invention relates to an inflatable ergonomic pillow to provide adjustable support for the user's arms and back while the child is being held during mealtime.
Bottle-feeding and breast-feeding of newborn babies requires the mother to support and cradle the infant close to the bosom using her arm and elbow. Prolonged or repetitive nursing often causes the mother to suffer pain and fatigue in the elbows, arms, wrists and back. As a result, various devices are employed to help support the weight of the infant and thereby make nursing more comfortable. These devices have been developed from the recognition that bottle and breast-feeding can be compromised when the mother is uncomfortable and unable to provide adequate support for the infant.
In hospital situations for newborn or infant care, hospitals typically provide conventional pillows to nursing mothers for use in a support function. Commonly, only one such pillow is provided per bed. A conventional bed pillow, however, must often be doubled-up or folded to provide meaningful support under the mother's elbow and forearm and below the infant's body. It is difficult for the mother to obtain sufficient support using a conventional single pillow even when the mother is in the sitting position. The problem is compounded in that most hospital beds are narrow and have upwardly extending railings which inhibit proper positioning of pillows when used to provide support on the side of the mother below the elbow.
One prior art device designed to provide nursing support employs foamed material in the shape of a wedge. The foam wedge nursing support is disadvantageous due to its relatively fixed size and configuration. When such a foamed nursing support is configured to provide optimal support for an extremely young and small infant, the dimensions will prove to be inadequate within a short period of time as the infant grows in size. Therefore, it is conceivable that several sized foam wedges would have to be employed if the mother chooses to bottle or breast-feed the infant over extended calendar periods of time. Additionally, foam structures can potentially absorb moisture and are difficult to clean. Likewise, conventional feather or foam bed pillows suffer from the same disadvantages.
Oval shaped, single chamber air mattresses have been employed to provide support for arms during breast and bottlefeeding. These prior art devices suffer from disadvantages associated with the shape and single chamber construction. An oval shaped air cushion must be positioned about the torso in a suitable manner to provide proper support for the mother's left or right arm, as required. The oval shape does not lend itself to equal support on both sides of the mother's body. Therefore, when the feeding position changes, so must the position of the oval support.
Additionally, single air chamber construction fails to provide adequate support without relatively high pressure inflation. Low pressure inflation, however, may be necessary to reduce the height or size of the air cushion for the particular application or to facilitate adaptation around uneven surfaces, railings, arm rests or the like. When the inflation pressure is reduced to accommodate these obstructions, the support provided by the air pillow is compromised. In many circumstances, it is not feasible to inflate a single chamber structure to the pressure required to provide adequate support. The size of the child being fed, position of the user, posture, and surrounding physical constraints all impact where such an oval, single chamber air pillow must be positioned and to what pressure it is inflated. As a result, in many circumstances, these prior art devices prove to be inadequate.